


Sweet as Pie

by Zeezzerpan



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Baking, Flashbacks, Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, kalashtar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:27:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27377191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeezzerpan/pseuds/Zeezzerpan
Summary: All it takes is a little baking, and Quinn is brought back to a time that seems eons ago, but comes back to a future worth looking forward to.
Kudos: 3





	Sweet as Pie

**Author's Note:**

> So I had the idea for this piece for a little while!! Quinn and Astrid are both D&D characters! Astrid, a kalashtar, is mine, and Quinn, a human, belongs to my friend! Musgo is a different character, a warforged that belongs to a completely different friend!!

Quinn and Astrid had agreed on the their plans a few weeks prior. It was autumn, and therefore apple season, and they had gone to a local orchard to go apple picking, with plans to turn the very same apples into a pie. Musgo had come along for the apple picking, but now, in the kitchen of Astrid's house, it was just the two of them. Musgo had been asked to help Astrid's father chop fire wood for later that night, as it was supposed to get cold. With some huffing and puffing, Musgo agreed, so Quinn and Astrid got to work on pie making.

Quinn was in charge of the crust, following the recipe card Astrid had offered him to work from. He was currently mixing the dough, as Astrid prepared the apples. They had all been washed, now they needed to be peeled and cut. Peeling apples wasn't anything new to Astrid, she had done it many times, and had even developed the technique necessary to peel them all with a single careful cut.

"So, once it's all mixed, I roll it out?" Quinn looked to Astrid for confirmation.

"You'll want to kneed it a bit first, then roll it out. Make sure you have enough flour," Astrid offered, keeping her eyes on her hands.

Quinn nodded, his gaze following Astrid's down to the apple she was currently working on. Blinking a few times, something started to stir inside him.

"Oh wow..."

"What?" Astrid finally paused to meet his gaze, though his was focused on her hands.

"It's just... That's how my mom would..." But Quinn couldn't finish his sentence, as he was ripped from Astrid's kitchen and brought back to the one from his childhood home.

His mother was there, alive, happy, peeling apples to make snacks for her kids. She met Quinn's gaze and smiled at him, telling him that one day she'd teach him how to peel fruits and vegetables the way she did. However, with her death, and the deaths of the rest of his family, that day never came, and Quinn was overcome with a longing agony as tears welled in his eyes and his body shook. He was still ages away.

"Quinn?" Astrid set the fruit and knife down, getting up from the stool she had been sitting at and walking around to the other side of the kitchen island to take hold of his hand. She could feel the tremors moving through him and gave his hand a soft squeeze.

"Quinn, it's okay. You're safe. You're here."

Finally it seemed, Quinn yielded to her words as a gasping sob escaped him and he leaned forward against her. Astrid brushed her hands clean on her apron before wrapping her arms around Quinn's shoulders in a hug. Quinn quickly returned the gesture, practically clinging to her, despite having dough and flour all over his fingers. He felt like he was rattling with his trembles and his sorrow, a sorrow he rarely expressed or thought much of, but felt so strongly in this moment.

Astrid just held him, and for a moment the only movement was Quinn's quaking, however even that slowly died down along with his crying. He was left to heavy breaths and sniffling, slowly pulling away, eyes fixated on the ground.

"Sorry..." The word was croaked past Quinn's lips. "I got your shirt all doughy huh?"

"It's alright, it can always be cleaned," Astrid assured, once more taking hold of Quinn's hand. "You don't have to talk about it right now, if you don't want to."

Quinn just nodded, averting his gaze to the partially mixed dough on the counter. "Yeah... Later... Maybe, when you take me home..."

"Alright." Agreeing, Astrid rubbed her thumb over Quinn's knuckles, tightening her grip for a moment before letting go. She stepped away and grabbed up a paper towel, offering it to him. "It's not a tissue, but, those are all the way in the living room. I could get you one though, if you really wished."

A weak smile came over Quinn's face. "No... This is fine, thanks, Astrid." Taking the paper towel, Quinn cleaned up his face, before tossing it to the trash. "We should probably, finish making this pie, huh...?"

"Yes. Would you rather peel the apples?"

"No, but... Maybe some day, you could teach me how you do it?"

"Of course."


End file.
